Securing device for a baggage cover sheet winder

ABSTRACT

A winder for a baggage area cover sheet for an automobile automatically winds the cover sheet set in the baggage area by a winding drum which is energized by aid of rotation of a torsion coil spring. At the inner walls on both sides of the car, a securing device is fixed which includes, a pair of pressing members or a pair of pressing member and a latching member. The securing device maintains the winder in position by pressing it from both sides or one side.

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 551,608, filed Nov. 14,1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a winder for a baggage room cover sheet usedin automobiles. The winder is constructed to wind a cover sheet, made ofleather or the like. The cover sheet covers a baggage room and removablymounts a securing device transverse to the car body in automobiles ofvan or hatch back type.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Generally, when baggage is loaded in the baggage area of the automobile,it can be seen through a window of the car. The car is not only subjectto damage or the influence of heat by direct sunshine, but also todamages from forcible entry into the car for purposes of robbery. Acover sheet which covers the baggage area is devised to overcome theseproblems.

Various kinds of such cover devices for the baggage area are known.However, in a conventional cover device, a winder of the cover sheet isfixed at a rear portion of a rear seat back so that the cover sheet maybe fixed to a latching portion located at the rear of the car body afterpulling out the cover sheet. When the rear seat is tilted towards thefront seat to enlarge the baggage area or when the winder is removedfrom the car body for storage it is possible that the cover sheet willbe pulled out of the winder and be twisted or rolled up in a bentcondition.

Further, some conventional baggage cover device have an attachingmechanism at both ends of their main body.

Such kinds of references are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,231 andU.S. Pat. No. 4,168,094. In these references, however, when the winderis removed from the car body in a state such that the cover sheet ispulled out from the winder, the winder and the attached portion to thecar body are constructed to connect with a case. The attached portion ofthe cover sheet is connected so that it does not lose its torsion forcestored by a spring contained in the case. This is achieved bymaintaining the torsion force of the spring in the portions which wereattached to the car. By this, in the cited reference, the weight of thecase is added to the winder device and the winder whole weight of thedevice is thereby increased. This affects the operation of attaching orremoving of the winder device from the car.

Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,601 there is no such case as describedabove, but a device which locks the rotation of the attached portion ofthe cover sheet so that the attached portion of the cover sheet insidethe winder does not lose the torsion force of a spring contained in thewinder. However, this reference has other defects.

In other words, the reference has not only a complicated construction,but also is of a heavy weight and low reliability (accidents easilyoccurring). Further, since the locking device is contained in a smallspace, it is difficult to manufacture design. Therefore, the device isexpensive to manufacture.

Now, another conventional winder will be described.

A conventional winder is secured to the car body by mounting a bracketor opening a hole in a car wall and inserting and securing a portion ofthe winder into the hole. A clearance is located between the car walland the portion of the winder secured to car wall, which requires aspecial construction so that the appearance of the car is not spoiled orthe winder is not able to move off from its bracket. As a result, theweight and the cost of the winder are increased. On the other hand,since the construction of an attached portion of the winder to the carnecessitates extending or shortening the distance between the attachedportions to secure the winder between the car walls, the weight of thewinder is increased, whereby operation is not only disturbed, but alsoan increase of cost and a decrease of reliability result. Further,manufacture is difficult due to the small size of the winder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of this invention is to provide a winder for a baggage areacover sheet for an automobile which is light in weight and avoids therolling up of the cover sheet while in use, while when not in use thereis no twisting of the cover sheet by the cover sheet being drawn out ofthe winder without of torsion force, even if the winder is removed froma car. Another object of this invention is to provide a securing devicefor a winder device which is easy to secure to the car body. Thesecuring device is simple to use and accurate in positioning andattaching the winder device of the cover sheet of the baggage area foran automobile.

This invention has the following features for attaining the abovepurposes.

This invention includes a winder device for a baggage area cover sheetfor an automobile and an attaching device constructed separately fromthe winder. The winder is provided with end caps consisting of anopening which guides both opposite side edges of said cover sheet as thecover sheet is pulled from the winder. A housing portion includes alocking pin removably inserted in the edge portion of a side of saidcover sheet which has been drawn out from the winder device. A bossportion is attached at both ends of the winder. Further, an attachingdevice includes a pair of pressing members or a set including a pressingmember and a latching member fixed to opposed walls of an automobile atright and left sides. The winder is adapted to press the boss portionfor attaching the winder to the pressing and latching members from bothsides or from only one side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view which illustrates the securing of a winderof a baggage area cover sheet for an automobile according to thisinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a winder for the baggage area cover sheet for anautomobile, partially shown in a cross-sectional view according to thisinvention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the end cap of the winder shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along line4--4.

FIG. 5 is a front view which shows a pressing member mounted on the carbody.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are bottom and plan views of the pressing member ofFIG. 5 respectively.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary schematic view.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are partial cross-sectional views which respectivelyrepresent the cover sheet winder install on the securing device.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the latching member.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of FIG. 12 taken along line 13--13. And

FIG. 14 to FIG. 16 are partial sectional views which represent otherembodiments of the latching members.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will be described according to the embodiments illustratedas follows.

The winder of the baggage room cover sheet according to this inventionis shown in FIG. 1.

Namely, the winder 1 of the baggage room cover sheet is removablymounted at the rear portion of a rear seat back A of the car, and thecover sheet 2 rolled in the winder 1 is pulled out to be latched to alatch portion at the rear of the car by the rear end thereof.

At the rear end portion of said cover sheet 2, a core member having thebar shape 3, which prevents the bend of the cover sheet 2, is fixed.

In FIG. 1, the numerals 4 and 5 are a locking pin and a handle portionfor pulling out the cover sheet respectively.

The winder 1 of the baggage room cover sheet is shown in FIG. 2 to FIG.4.

The numeral 6 is a winding drum. The winding drum 6 is a cylindricalbody having a length nearly equal to a width of the car body.

At both ends of the drum 6, a bearing portion 7 formed by a cylindricalbody has a bottom surface provided with a hole 7a. The drum 6 isrotatably mounted with respect to a rod 8 inserted in the holes 7a.

The cover sheet 2 is wound on the winding drum 6 by a portion length ofthe cover sheet being fixed at one end to the drum.

The numeral 9 is an end cap which is formed of a cylindrical body madeof plastic or the like and fixed to both ends of rod 8 by way of pin 10.

In end cap 9, pulling out opening 9a for the cover sheet 2 extends in anaxial direction, as shown in FIG. 3. Formed at the side wall of thecylindrical body, and at both edge portions of the pulling out opening,a housing portion 9b protrudes having a pair of upper and lower detents.The housing portion 9b is engaged with locking pins 4 installed on theends of the core member of the cover sheet 2, thereby completing theunwinding of the cover sheet 2 or locking the core member. Further, aboss portion 9c fixedly inserted into a securing device (describedhereinafter) installed on the car body side is integrally formed at eachend portion of the end cap 9.

The numeral 11 is a torsion coil spring inserted at its coil portionalong the outside of rod 8, the torsion coil spring being hold insidethe winding drum 6 by being latched at one end 11a to the bearingportion 7 and at another end to the rod 8 respectively. The torsion coilspring is provided with a fixed initial torsion.

The winder thus constructed acts as follows.

In the winder 1, the cover sheet 2 having a fixed length is wound andthe locking pin 4 is fixedly inserted into the securing device(described hereinafter) which is installed on the car body by the bossportions 9c located on both sides of the winder so that said locking pinis engaged with the housing portion 9b of each end cap 9. The end caps 9and the rod 8 are restrained against rotation due to the insertion ofeach boss portion 9c. On the other hand, the winding drum 6 rotates withrespect to the rod 8 in this state. Thus, the winder 1 is attached tothe car body, and when covering the baggage area, the locking pin 4 atthe rear end of the cover sheet 2 is removed from the housing portion 9band the cover sheet 2 is pulled out by a handle 5. The cover sheetpulled out is guided through the pulling out opening 9a of the end cap.By this operation, the winding drum 6 rotates, whereby the torsion coilspring is tightened.

By this, the winding drum 6 rotatively energizes the cover sheet 2 inthe winding direction. However, the cover sheet is still pulled outopposing this energized force and latches the locking pins 4 installedat the rear end of said sheet to the latching portion at the rear of thecar body, thereby covering the baggage area. In order to house the coversheet in the winder 1, it is sufficient to release the latching state ofthe locking pins 4 at the rear of the car body. In other words, thecover sheet 2 released from the latching state is wound by the windingdrum 6 which rotates by the aid of the energized force of the torsioncoil spring being guided through the pulling out opening 9a of the endcap 9. At the completion of winding, the rewinding of the cover sheet 2of the winder 1 is ended by engaging each locking pin 4 with the housingportion 9b of each end cap 9.

Now, the securing device of the winder 1 will be described.

The first securing device comprises a pair of pressing members. Thepressing member 20 is shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8.

A cylindrical guide 21 is secured extending through the inner wall 12 ofthe baggage area of the car. The guide 21 is secured to the car body bytraversely bridging the winder 1 across the baggage area cover sheet.For this purpose, the cylindrical guides 21 are installed opposite eachother on the inner wall of the car.

An inserting hole 22 and a guide hole 23 are coaxially formed in thelongitudinal direction of the cylindrical guide member 21, and an abutplate 24 and a coil spring 25 described hereinafter are inserted intothe guide hole 23. The inserting hole 22 and guide hole 23 are formedsquare in the embodiments illustrated and the abut plate 24 which slidesalong the guide hole 23 is adapted to collide with a base end portion22a of the inserting hole 22 to stop itself from continued movement.

Any shape of the inserting hole 22 is acceptable if only the insertedboss portion 9c has a shape which restrains its rotation in relation tothe shape of boss portion 9c. For instance, the shape of inserting hole22 may be a triangle or a hexagon without being restricted to square.Especially, the inserting hole 22 may be formed circular to form a keygroove, thereby inserting the boss portion 9c of the winder member 1therein so as not to rotate. The abut plates 24 are, in general, made ofmetal plate; and when the boss portions 9c of both end portions of thewinder 1 of the cover sheet are respectively inserted in each insertinghole 22 of the cylindrical guide members 21 and 21 located opposite eachother on the inner wall 12 of the car and the winder 1 is secured asshown in FIG. 9, the abut plates 24 abut to both edge surfaces of theboss portions 9c from the left side and the right side and act to pressthe boss portons 9c from both sides. For this purpose, a coil spring 25is inserted into the guide hole 23 at the rear of the abut plate 24. Alatching member 26 abuts another end portion of the coil spring 25 whichis secured at the rear end side of the guide hole 23, and the latchingmember 26 abuts the end portion of the coil spring 25, whereby the abutplate 24 is pressingly energized toward the end surface of boss portion9c of the winder 1.

The latching member 26 in the example is formed by a forked pin securedto the rear side of the inserting hole 22 as shown in FIG. 7.

In order to install pressing member 20 in the car, the abut plate 24 andthe coil spring 25 are inserted, from the rear of the guide hole 23 ofthe cylindrical guide 21. Then, after inserting the cylindrical guide 21into a hole formed at the inner wall 12 the pressing member 20 isclamped with screw 13.

In other words, the first securing device of this invention is, as shownin FIG. 10, constructed from a pair of pressing members 20 fixed to theinner walls of the car body, thereby pressingly energizing andmaintaining the winder 1 of the baggage area cover sheet.

Further, the second securing device of this invention will be describedas follows.

The second securing device consists of a pressing member 20 having anenergizing function, and a latching member 30 having no energizingfunction which together form one pair as shown in FIG. 11. In FIG. 11,the numeral 12 is an inner wall of the car body.

Although, the ltching member 30 is operable with only a plate body 31having an inserting hole 32 into which the boss portion 9c of winder 1of the baggage room cover sheet is inserted, the following modifiedembodiment is considered. Further, the shape of the inserting hole 32 isformed to be a polyangular shape such as triangle or square by which therotation of the inserted boss portion 9c is restrained.

At the lower inside surface of an inserting hole 32, the rectangularshape of said latching member 30a shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 engages,an antiskid member 33 made of rubber or the like which is stuck thereon.Further, at the lower inside surface of an inserting hole 32b of alatching member 30b shown in FIG. 14, a ratchet projection 34 is formed.On the other side, at the boss portion 9c of the winder 1 of the baggageroom cover sheet, a detent portion 35 which engages with the ratchetprojection 34 is formed. Furthermore, the latching member 30c shown inFIG. 15 includes a case wherein a plate spring presses the boss portion9c downward abutting the upper surface of said boss portion 9c on theother side of the ratchet projection 34 of the latching member 30b andthe detent portion 35 formed at boss portion 9c of the winder 1 in FIG.14. At the latching member 30d shown in FIG. 16, a ball 38 is energizedby being pushed up toward the lower portion of an inserting hole 32dwith a spring 37, and the ball 38 is engaged into a detent 39 formed atthe lower inside surface of boss portion 9c of the winder 1. Any ofthese modified embodiments are formed to prevent the falling-off of theboss portion 9c of the winder 1 of the cover sheet from the insertionhole of the latching member. Especially, FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 representthe intention to prevent play between the boss porton 9c of winder 1 andthe latching member 30c or 30d and play between the boss portion 9c andthe insertion hole 32c or 32d. It is effective when the spring constantof said latching member and said pressing member 20 which form a pairare comparatively weak, or the car runs on an uneven road.

Still further, in case of design of one side pressing member 20 whichconstitutes the second securing device, if the supporting force of thewinder 1 is designed to be the same as the first securing device andalso the same in deflection of the spring, the winder 1 is possiblysupported by means of the coil spring 25 having half of the springconstant used for the first securing device compared with the casewherein the winder 1 is pressed by springs 25 from both ends of thewinder 1 of the cover sheet as in the first securing device.Accordingly, the diameter of the coil spring 25 can be less than that ofthe first securing device.

Further, in the case of locating the first pressing member 20 on oneside of the car and the end boss portion 9c of the winder 1 is insertedin said pressing member 20 which also constitutes the second securingdevice located on the other side of the car, the supporting force of thesprings is designed so that the deflection of the coil spring 25 usedfor the members 20 is half of that required if only one pressing memberwere used. Therefore, it is possible to design the stroke length of theend boss portion 9c of winder 1 and the length of the insertion hole ofpressing member 20 to be half of those in the first securing devicerespectively.

The winder of the baggage area cover sheet for automobile and itssecuring device of this invention constructed as described above, havethe following features.

First, the winder of the baggage area cover sheet for automobile will bedescribed.

According to the winder of this invention, when removing the winder fromthe car body or storage of the cover sheet, the winding and pulling outof the cover sheet can be locked by housing the locking pins mounted onthe both end portions. Therefore, there is neither the loss of thetorsion force stored in the coil spring nor a loose pulling out of thecover sheet.

Also, according to the winder of this invention, since the cover sheetis pulled out or wound off by guiding the edges of said cover sheetthrough a pulling out opening of the end caps, there is no need for aspecial guide member and the required parts are few. The winder issimple in construction, small in size and possible to be made of lightweight and manufactured at low cost.

Now, the first and second securing devices of the winder for the baggagearea cover sheet for an automobile of this invention will be described.

In the first and the second securing devices, the abut plates areprovided so that either a pair of pressing members or one of twopressing members may slide into the guide holes of the cylindrical guiderespectively. Since the abut plate is energized by a coil spring, thewinder of the cover sheet can be removably installed in the car. Byinstalling it, the winder can be maintained stably and securely.Further, even when a variation occurs between the winder and the carwall to which the winder is secured due to the variation of precisedimensions of the car, a good securing state can be maintained.Furthermore, since both first and second securing devices arerespectively secured to the inner wall of the car, there is no need ofproviding a special securing mechanism for the winder of the coversheet, whereby the winder itself can be miniaturized, intending todecrease its weight and ease of removability.

The second securing device consists of the pressing member having apressingly energizing function and the latching member having nopressingly energizing function. Accordingly, in case of securing thewinder of the cover sheet, since the securing device is pressed onlyfrom one side and not pressed from another side, the vibration of thespring having a pressingly energizing function is absorbed by thelatching member on the opposite side, whereby there is no occurrence ofvibration, and play of the secured winder is reduced and a more stablesupport than that of the first securing device can be obtained.

Still further, since the second securing device has no interference froma pressing force between the mutual springs as in the first securingdevice, the positioning of the winder can be performed with ease and aspring having a smaller spring constant than that of the first securingdevice can be used, thereby being able to miniaturize and decrease theweight from the first securing device.

What we claim is:
 1. A baggage area cover sheet winder comprising:awinding drum, a rod disposed longitudinally within said winding drum, acover sheet fixed at one end to said winding drum, a rigid core memberfixed at an opposite end of said cover sheet from said one end, saidrigid core member terminating with a locking pin at each of its ends, aspring located between said winding drum and said rod, and an end capfixed at each end of said rod, each said end cap including (a) a pullingout opening for guiding passage of said cover sheet into and out of saidend cap, (b) a boss portion projecting outwardly from said end cap forengagement with a device to secure the winder to the sides of anautomobile, and (c) a housing portion having an upper detent and a lowerdetent for removably locking said locking pins therebetween to preventpulling out of said cover sheet except by exertion of a predeterminedamount of fore and to prevent loss of torsion in said spring due to freerolling of said winding drum.